


Subfloor Fourteen

by orphan_account



Series: Stuck Inside in 2020 Works of Boredom [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: AU, Akio Yamashiro Lives, Pets, Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:35:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23401579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Oliver Queen and Sara Lance have been dead for ten years. After the Undertaking, the remaining Queens, Merlyn's, and Lance's are attacked. Instead of protective custody like they expect, they're placed into the custody of Project Lifeline, a secret organisation with several familiar faces, and several news ones as well.[Athena=Mia][Written Pre-Season 8]
Relationships: John Diggle/Lyla Michaels, Laurel Lance/Tommy Merlyn, Maseo Yamashiro/Tatsu Yamashiro, Nyssa al Ghul/Sara Lance, Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak
Series: Stuck Inside in 2020 Works of Boredom [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1684453
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	Subfloor Fourteen

**Sub-Floor Fourteen**

* * *

_"Attention all Lifeline Members. Mission briefing. I repeat, mission briefing. If you want to be late, feel free, I don't care, the Devil is here, I repeat the Devil is here. Run for yeh lives, arrrgh!"_

The voice of Felicity Smoak-Queen echoed around sub-floor fourteen, aka Project Lifeline. The occupants of the secret floor all reacted differently to the announcement. The kids all looked up from their schoolwork, and at Tatsu, their teacher, who's expression remained unreadable. Roy Harper groaned, and hid his head under his pillow. Rose Wilson, practising a set of complex kata's, growled, and both her blades flashed, cutting a nearby punching bag in half.

"You're cleaning that up right?" Joe, her younger brother asked. Rose gave him a glare, and slid both blades together, sheathing them as one on her back. Joe was sharpening one of his own blades, the whetstone sending sparks through the air. "Because I know _I'm_ not."

The nineteen-year-old girl didn't say anything, stomping over to the bag and taking it down. She started to drag it to a nearby trash slot, and dumped it in, then gathered up the stuffing, and tossed it down the chute as well. "Get off your ass."

Joe shrugged, and twirled his blade, sheathing it. He followed his sister out of the activity room, and into the main hallway. The white lights glared, a stark contrast to the people who lived on subfloor fourteen. Out of the Yamashiro apartment, Tatsu stepped out, a gaggle of children around her. Grant Wilson, Athena Smoak-Queen, and the Michael twins surrounded her legs, along with her own son, Akio. They were whispering to each other in Japanese, the Yamishiro's native tongue. Athena giggled, and swatted at Akio playfully.

"Any idea what's happening?" Rose asked dryly, and Tatsu shook her head, her katana resting on her back. It would have looked strange with her civilian clothes, if they hadn't been Lifeline members. It fit right in down on their floor.

"I have no knowledge of the situation."

The youngest Wilson, twelve-year-old Grant, skipped over to his siblings, and tugged at Rose's sleeve. "I learned about poisons!"

"Did you?" she said, humouring her brother. "What kind?"

Grant started to chatter about how Tatsu had been explaining how to coat weapons in paralysing substances, while not poisoning yourself. Like with the sword, the conversation topic would have been a cause for concern anywhere else. Here, it was regular stuff.

The two groups were joined by Felicity herself, who came out of her apartment in a ARGUS tech uniform, hair tied back in a simple ponytail, along with her husband. Athena darted over to them, and Oliver laughed, picking her up.

"How's your day been?"

As Athena joined the conversation about poisons, she scrambled around her father, until she was clinging to his back like a monkey, legs dangling. Felicity gave her daughter a small kiss, and then they entered the briefing room.

It was a room that nobody really liked. Mostly because it meant they had to encounter the devil herself, Amanda Waller. Otherwise, Amanda wasn't really allowed on subfloor fourteen. It wasn't an official thing, but the occupants had made it quite clear, through a mixture of glares, comments, and the kids 'accidentally' nearly shooting her with Athena's archery gear.

The Diggles were already there, seated and in full uniform, minus John's helmet, and their two four-year-old twins ran over, climbing onto their parents. Like their classmates, they immediately began chattering about what Tatsu had been teaching them, fully ignoring Amanda.

The other Lifeline members sat, joining Roy and Cindy, who were also seated, although in casual clothing. Roy made a face at Athena, who had climbed onto the table by Slade Wilson, and was now braiding his hair. The man was the one who caught the look, and glared in return. He then pushed Athena towards her mother as Mei Gulong joined them, seating gingerly at the head of the table.

Amanda cleared her throat, and everyone looked to her, except for Athena, who was starting to braid Felicity's hair instead.

"What's this about?" Oliver asked, leaning back in his chair. Amanda nodded to the one man who knew about Lifeline, but was not a part of it, other then herself, and he walked around the room, handing out files to everyone in the room over fifteen. Grant started to read over Tatsu's shoulder anyways.

Felicity finished first, and looked up. "Our family's in danger."

Amanda's eyes burned into the hacker's own, neither woman backing down. "Yes, Mrs. Smoak-Queen. They are indeed in danger."

"From the League of Shadows?" Roy spoke up, having skimmed the folder. "Tell me that's _not_ a branch of the League of Assassins."

"They are." Amanda said crisply, dismissing the man with a curt nod. He vanished out the door. "Talia Al Ghul, the eldest daughter of Ra's, was the founder. A mirror of her father's League, except for their ideals and the lack of a Lazarus Pit."

Oliver remained silent, as did everyone but the kids, who were stealthily sneaking under the table one by one. Of course, everyone noticed, but they all pretended not to. The kids were being pretty quiet in any case, so they let it happen.

"Why's the Queen family being targeted?" Sin asked, crossing her arms on the table.

"The Undertaking."

"Because of course." Joe muttered under his breath, finger sliding across the page, keeping his place.

"Thalia may be estranged from her father, but according to Miss Al Ghul, her sister is fiercely loyal to him. And would avenge him in any way possible, even if he is still alive. There has already been one assassination attempt on Moira Queen in broad daylight, thwarted only by a rather lucky shot from a police officer. Thomas Merlyn has also been targeted, although not by the League."

"The deal is that when our families are threatened, you'll protect them." John said, voice stiff and unyielding. Below the table, the quiet chanting of Stella Ella Ola came, along with the sound of hands hitting other hands.

"I'm well aware, Mr. Diggle." Amanda said, just as unyielding. "And they will be protected. Thea Queen and Moira Queen have both been placed in protective custody already, along with Thomas Merlyn and his girlfriend, Laurel Lance.

"Canary and Demon are also already at the location, as added security." she continued. "Therefore, you have nothing to worry about. And in any case, they will be extracted within the next forty-eight hours."

"By who?" Maseo asked.

"Lifeline."

* * *

The Canary waited on a rooftop, hidden in the shadows of Starling City's night. Dressed in all black, she could have fit in on the streets, if not for the veil over her mouth and nose, and hood over her blonde hair. The collapsed bo at the back of her hips also gave her away as not quite normal.

She wasn't pacing. She stood stiffly at one corner, staring across the street, into a window lit up with golden-yellow lights. She couldn't quite see who was inside with her naked eyes, but she knew. Thomas Merlyn, and Laurel Lance.

Sara had kept tabs on her family, just like Oliver had, and just Lyla, John, and Felicity had. Tatsu only had a cousin left alive, and Maseo's family believed him to be dead. Sin had no family; at least none that she cared for, and the same went for Roy. Mei's sister, and parents were all dead, and the Wilson's all lived at Lifeline.

She knew that the two had gotten together shortly before the Undertaking, despite Malcolm Merlyn's protests. She knew that Tommy was hopelessly in love with Laurel, and had completely done a 360 to get her to date him. She wasn't approving of the match at first. But she'd decided it was better for Laurel to date someone that Sara was certain wasn't about to A) cheat on her, or B) do something unforgivable to her.

Sara lifted one hand to the communication device in her right ear. It was a lot like a hearing aid, wrapping around the outside of her ear, and molded to the inside of it as well, jet black. The only identifying thing on it was a tiny, very tiny white bird on the bottom of the part that wrapped around her ear. Just so they didn't put each other comms in.

"This is Canary." she said, turning away from the street, and quickly walking across the gravel rooftop, boots making faint crunching noises under her feet. "Leaving for a perimeter check."

 _"This is Demon."_ Nyssa Al Ghul replied, as if she was right beside Sara, voice clear as the sidewalk below. _"No activity. Message received."_

Sara parkoured her way to a taller rooftop, two stories above the one she'd been on. It was easier than the obstacle course Roy had set up on subfloor fifteen, and she rolled over the lip of the roof within a minute, breaking into a jog.

She leapt from the building, and widened her perimeter, circling the Starling City Police Department Station Nyssa was inside. She checked the likely sniper spots, the lookout points, and made sure nothing had changed since her last round. And nothing had, at least not yet.

Sara arrived back where she started, and relayed the information back to Nyssa, who informed her that nothing else had changed on her end either.

Nyssa was impersonating an FBI officer. There were no other FBI officers at the station, and her credentials, courtesy of ARGUS, had checked out, so they allowed her to stand outside of the room with the witnesses inside. She was the only Lifeline member with an FBI identity, since they were obnoxiously difficult to procure. She'd gotten it because she was the only one without family members in the 'real world' and therefore essentially unidentifiable. Along with the fact that she didn't have a birth certificate or anything like it.

_"This is Overwatch. Status report."_

Sara didn't flinch at Felicity's sudden intrusion. She'd long ago gotten used to the blond's perky personality, and sudden tech based appearances.

"This is Canary." she replied quietly. "Nothing of interest. Any updates on your end?"

 _"Yeah, that's why I'm calling."_ Felicity said, and Sara picked up the faint noise of _Let It Go_ in the background. The kids were probably watching a DVD again. _"We're extracting both Queen females, Laurel Lance, and Thomas Merlyn. Tonight."_

Nyssa remained silent, probably a sign that someone was nearby her, but she was listening. Sara knew her better then she knew herself. So Sara was the one who asked the questions. "Who's coming?"

 _"Katana."_ Felicity said. _"And Dragon. ETA; one hour. Our cover is transport of witnesses to a more secure location. Ravager will meet you at Phase Two."_

Nyssa's cool accent came in then. _"Acknowledged Overwatch. What about Officer Lance? I'm fairly certain he won't want to leave his daughter; not to mention, he's a possible target as well."_

_"Ah… Give me ten, I'll call back soon."_

* * *

Sure enough, ten minutes later, Felicity spoke once more. _"Officer Quintin Lance has now been placed into the program as well. Do not leak identities, and no names. Standard internal extraction."_

"Copy that." Sara muttered. "We'll be waiting."

* * *

Laurel Lance was not prepared to have a rather attractive woman step into the holding cell. They'd been given just a pack of cards, all cell phones and personal belongings removed and taken to a secure location. And for the past six hours, the four of them had been alternating between Go Fish, Uno, Solitaire, and learning how to throw cards.

It had been a pretty boring six hours.

The woman had darker skin, like she'd been born perfectly tan, sharp, dark colored iris', and nearly black curls of hair reaching down past her shoulders. She was exactly the kind of person who was all-business, and it showed when she spoke.

"You're being transferred. Come with me."

She let Thea keep the cards.

* * *

They were taken to a black van. It was pitch-black out, and the two people transporting them took them out via an emergency exit. To Laurel's surprise, her father was dragged along with them, and he didn't complain.

The second woman who'd appeared moments after the first was Asian, with the same kind of attitude as the first woman, who'd informed them her name was Mrs. Head, and that was how they were to address her as, and nothing else. The second woman was Miss Jun, and hadn't spoken once.

The van didn't have any windows. Just a bench on each side of the walls, with no seatbelts. Another person was visible in the driver's seat, although they didn't turn around at all. And the passenger's seat was already filled.

The two women who'd dragged them out took seats at the end of the benches, close to the doors. The van started up, and they all lurched as it started to pull out.

There was silence for a few minutes. Then, Thea spoke up.

"Where are we going?"

"Secured location." Miss Jun said flatly, the first words she'd said, lifting a hand to something in her ear that looked a lot like a hearing aid. Her voice was nice, with a soft accent that Thea couldn't pace. "Target's secured. Phase one complete."

There was a tension filled pause, and then Mrs. Head spoke. "Overwatch, repeat."

Both women seemed to be even more on edge after that.

* * *

The drive was actually uneventful, for the most part. Nobody stopped them, and the tension levels stayed the same the entire trip, along with the noise level. No one spoke after 'Overwatch' told the women something, although it seemed the two of them had gotten more messages.

Finally, they stopped moving. The doors opened, revealing a woman in all black, a hood and veil over her nose and mouth. She said nothing, pointing towards a helicopter behind her. The other occupants of the car piled out, and started to drag the Queen's, Merlyn, and Lances towards the flying vehicle.

One of the people that the witnesses hadn't seen yet, a young white woman, took the pilot's seat. Thankfully, the helicopter actually did have seatbelts, and headsets.

They took off in the dead of night, helicopter blades chopping through the air. The headsets barely blocked the noise, although someone was talking over it.

 _"Adjust heading."_ they ordered. _"Head west."_

Thea stayed silent, tapping the pack of cards against her knee in anxiety, eyes flitting around the room. The voice gave more instructions, mostly related to weather and what sounded like flight paths. A long time later, they landed in the middle of a forest. There was a small clearing, with just a single story brick building

"Out."

* * *

The building had a secret elevator. The moment it was revealed, Thea knew something was up. Things like this didn't happen in situations like hers. They weren't in that much danger, were they?

"Alert them." the unnamed, unmasked woman told the masked one, who silently stepped into the elevator first. The doors shut behind her, and Quintin finally spoke, for the first time in hours.

"What the hell is this?"

"Security." Mrs. Head said bluntly. Quintin snorted, but nobody gave them any more answers. Thea glanced down at her hands, almost expecting to be handcuffed. There was nothing there. It was a minor relief. The doors opened again, and they entered the elevator.

"Demon." Mrs. Head said. "Subfloor fourteen."

_"Error. Nyssa Al Ghul: Clear. Rose Wilson: Clear. Mei Gulong: Clear. Other lifeforms unidentified. Access denied."_

The mechanical voice caused Thea to flinch, and Tommy's hand flew up to clutch at his heart, eyes wide in surprise. Not one of them women reacted to the voice, or their guests reactions.

"Override."

_"Authority needed."_

"On the authority of Nyssa Al Ghul."

_"Passphrase required."_

"Should the world tell you to move, stand your ground, and inform them to move."

_"Passphrase confirmed. Welcome. Demon. Ravager. Dragon. Guests."_

They moved down. Nobody spoke. Moira moves closer to her daughter, brushing her. The younger Queen stayed still, unwavering, even as thousands of horror scenarios ran through her mind.

Then, the doors opened. And someone screamed.

* * *

In retrospect, the scream was more of a war cry. But in return, Tommy let out a yell, along with Thea. Quintin clutched at his heart in shock, and Moira froze, eyes wide. An arrow flew between Quintin and Laurel's heads, and clanged off the back wall. The source of said arrow turned out to be a short blond girl in a white t-shirt and camouflage pants, wearing a neon green bandana, which seemed to be counterproductive to the camouflage.

Instantly, she burst out laughing, doubling over. "Your faces! Oh my god!"

"Athena!" someone shouted as they recovered from the fright. A young woman with the same blond hair as the girl appeared, with a pair of rectangular glasses on, hair tied back in a ponytail. "These are guests!"

The girl managed to compose herself, although she still wore a smirk on her face. The woman, likely her mother, took in a deep breath, and managed to calm herself as well. "Get the arrow. Apologize to our guests and go find your father."

"Yes mom." Athena mumbled. She offered up a rather feeble apology, found the arrow, and scurried off.

"You think she was trying to hit me?" their pilot asked, getting out of the elevator first. "Cause damn, girl nearly did."

"You're fine Rose." Miss Jun said, looking at Athena's mother. "Is Waller still here?"

"Thank god no." the woman sighed, turning to Moira. "Sorry about my daughter. I'm Felicity."

She offered her hand, and Moira shook it gingerly, quickly letting go. "Moira Queen."

"I know. I mean, I'd think I should know, considering I'm—"

Rose cut her off as Miss Jun vanished down one of the hallways. "Felicity."

"Right! Sorry, I talk a lot."

"What is this?" Thea asked, before Felicity to get going again. "Cause it ain't WitSec like—wait, where'd Mrs. Head go?"

"Nyssa?" Felicity guessed. "Probably to change. That's what Sara and Mei are doing. And Rose, your brothers are trying to kill each other again."

"Cool." Rose nodded. "Can you handle the tour?"

"Roy's going to help." Felicity said, turning around to look down one of the halls, the one to the left. "Roy!"

"Coming blondie!"

"See?" Felicity said, turning back to the group. "It'll be fine! Go watch your brothers."

Rose nodded, and promptly vanished, just as a teenager in a red hoodie and jeans came up from the same hallway she went down. Thea cleared her throat, wanting a definitive answer. "What is this place?"

"Subfloor fourteen." the boy replied. "Also known as Project Lifeline."

* * *

"These are our official rooms." Felicity said, when they reached the corner. She gestured down the hallway. "Medical, meeting room, supplies, computers, generator, all that stuff is down here.

"Lifeline was founded by us. We wanted to do good, without risking getting arrested. And we wanted to protect our families. Part of the deal included that."

Thea frowned, twisting her card pack in her hand. "What do you guys do here?"

"Run missions." Roy said dryly. "Some of them are short, like preventing assassinations or hostage rescues. But a few are long term."

"We were the Starling City Vigilantes." Felicity said offhandedly, heading back the way they'd come from. Thea had to jog to catch up, having been caught up in her own thoughts. "I'm Overwatch, I run the tech. Roy's Arsenal. My husband is Arrow, Sara was Canary, Nyssa wasn't able to participate for a couple reasons, her dad sucks. And Sin helped out too."

"You're the guy who stole my purse." Thea realized, turning to glare at Roy, who shrugged.

"Guilty."

"We also have the Yamishiros, the Wilsons, and Mei." Felicity added. "The Yamishiros are Tatsu, Maseo, and their son, Akio. The Wilsons are Slade. His daughter Rose, you already met. Grant and Joe are her siblings. Mei's our primary doctor. She was 'Miss Jun'."

"The hell." Tommy muttered, clutching Laurel's hand tighter, hearing something like metal clanging on metal in the distance. "The hell?"

"And the Diggles. John, Lyla, and their twins, Sarah and John Jr."

"Why are we here?" Laurel asked, repeating the question for the fourth or fifth time. Felicity replied by not replying at all. She turned at the corner, and kept on walking.

"These are our apartments. Each family or couple has one. We don't really have locks, but knocking is considered necessary. And polite."

"She's good at avoiding answers." Roy told Laurel, holding back a smile. "But you'll find out soon."

Felicity chatted about how they'd taken the old base, and repurposed it. The first thirteen floors were a deterrent for any intruders, and the two floors below Lifeline were actually part of it, used for training and simulations. She was just finishing telling them how they ordered their food online every month when they passed an open door.

Inside, a girl in a black jacket and ripped jeans sat on a blue couch, a styrofoam container of Raman noodles in her lap. She was eating them with a purple plastic spork, listening to a small African-American girl tell a story, acting out the parts by her lonesome.

It was sparsely furnished. A couch, a low coffee table, a bookshelf. One counter with a sink and stove. Two doors, one presumably for the washroom, other for the bedroom. Artwork hung here and there, black and white sketches, depictions of skulls and horsemen and grim reapers, all with the same signature.

"Yo, Sin!" Roy called, causing both girls to look up at him. "Guests are here."

"Cool." Sin said, uncrossing her legs and slurping up some noodles. Her jet black hair was shaved close to her head, but she looked friendly enough. "C'mon Sare-Bear. Time to see Grant and Joe murder each other."

The girl, presumably the Sara Diggle mentioned earlier, scrambled towards Roy, and latched onto his leg, hugging it. "Roy!"

"Hey 'Bear." he laughed, bending down to pull her off. "Where's your brother?"

"Dunno." Sara said, wiggling happily. Then, she took off down the hallway, as Sin left her apartment, noodles in hand.

"Damn." she whistled. "Girl can run. Who'd she learn that from, Abercrombie?"

Roy scoffed, and took off after the four-year-old. Sin took one look at Thea, rolled her eyes, and took the lead, just in front of Felicity. She said nothing else as they went down the halls. A few other rooms were open. All of them had the same general idea. Dark grey walls, usually with some sparsely allotted furniture, a connected kitchen, and a couple doors. Each room had art or décor, specific to the occupant. One had a pair of cutlass-like swords hung beside each other, above the mantel. Another had a rock climbing wall on part of the ceiling. And a third had oriental-style art all over it, the furnishings similar.

As they moved down the hall, the sounds of clanging metal became clearer, along with a few voices. And then they stepped out into a massive gym.

It took up part of the floor above them, apparently, considering the climbing wall going up, and the layers of netting across one section above. In said layers, two kids were climbing around. Athena, and a boy who had to be Akio, since it had been pointed out that Grant and Joe were fighting, and John Jr. was a twin, and not twelve.

In the middle of the floor, two boys were fighting, each duel wielding a pair of straight, single-edged blades. The elder must have been nearly old enough to drink, the younger maybe Athena's age, perhaps a touch older.

"Watch your footing Grant!" a grizzled man with an eyepatch ordered. He had a pair of swords crossed on his back, but otherwise was dressed like a normal person. "Joe, you're slowing down!"

Actually, most of the people in the room had weapons. An oriental couple seated together both had swords, the woman with a sheath looped on her back, the man's at his hip. Athena still had her weaponry, and the boy she was playing with had a long knife at his back. Another man, watching the fight had a bow and arrow as well, while Rose had a single sword on her back. Mrs. Head, Nyssa, was apparently unarmed, as was the blond beside her. And Mei didn't have any weapons either.

"Our guests are here." Sin called, sitting down beside a couple who must have been John and Sara's parents. The woman, while slender, was built with clear, defined muscle, and the man had broad shoulders, skin dark.

The younger Wilson let out a cry, and spun his blades around, slashing at his brothers feet with one. He missed, but continued his spin, and brought the second around, knocking his brothers blade aside. His first blade hovered near the elders neck, although he was partially ducked.

"Call it." Roy suggested, from where he was hanging upside-down from the first layer of netting by his knees, hood fallen around his head.

"End match." the eyepatch man ordered, and both boys relaxed, stepping apart, and sheathing their blades.

"So." Felicity said, sounding cheerful and not at all bothered at the violent fight that had just ended, "That's Slade, Grant, and Joe Wilson. Tatsu and Maseo are those two, their son Akio, is up there. Lyla Michaels, John Diggle, and their son, John Jr. I think you know the rest."

"We don't." Laurel said icily, sick of nothing being explained, of the ignorance of kidnapping, of their situation. "Who's that?"

She pointed at the man with the bow, who looked remarkably calm. Felicity, on the other hand, didn't. "And who's she?"

The woman standing by Nyssa tensed, but stayed perfectly still otherwise, arms crossed. Quintin backed up his daughter. "I'm an officer of the law. You kidnapped us."

"I am afraid that is not true." Tatsu said, rising to her feet, and moving forwards, her husband following. "We were given permission to bring you here. You will be safe here."

Her voice was calm, soothing, but the group wasn't convinced.

"Well, sorry if I don't trust the people who find it normal to fight with swords!" Thea spat. It hit a nerve. Joe moved closer to his brother, a hand on Grant's shoulder. Akio and Athena, who'd just dropped down a level, stared right at them. Lyla's lips pressed together. Roy untangled his legs, dropping to the floor several meters below.

"You were brought here for your protection." Nyssa said sternly. "This is not something given lightly, Miss Queen."

"You said the deal was protection for your families." Tommy butted in, looking to Felicity, who gave him a single, quick nod. "But for that, we'd need to be related."

"We are." Felicity said nervously. "Well, I'm not related to you, but I am related to—"

"Bullshit." Quintin called. "I don't know any of you!"

"You do."

The blond by Nyssa spoke, and moved forwards. All the Lifeline members tensed as she moved forwards, towards Quintin. "I knew you for a long time."

"What are you—"

"You thought Sara died." Sin said bluntly. "She didn't."

"Wha—"

"Hi Daddy."

"Sara?"

She nodded once, and he scoffed, disbelieving. "Yeah right. You think you can just what, trick me—"

"When I was ten, you bought me a canary." Sara whispered, voice echoing in the silence. "It refused to stop singing."

"Sara?"

* * *

"That doesn't explain us." Thea said, after the Lances had reunited with their daughter. Sara, apparently overwhelmed or perhaps not comfortable with the attention, had pulled back, standing by Nyssa again, although closer. "That could explain Tommy, because he and Laurel are together—" nobody but the Lifeline members noticed how Oliver tensed in surprise at hearing it from his sister, "—but me and Mom?"

"You survived the Gambit." Moira said quietly, staring at Sara. "Did Oliver..."

"Yeah." Oliver found himself saying. "I made it."

* * *

"Okay." Sin said, fifteen minutes later, after the guests had—mostly—gotten over the shock of Oliver and Sara. By that time, Grant was halfway up the climbing section beside the netting, the twins a little ways behind. Athena was bouncing around on one of the taught layers, the ones that was more fabric then knotted ropes, like a sort of trampoline, trying to do a backflip. Akio was below her, laying on his back. "Now that that's done. What exactly are we going to do about the Shadows? I mean, She-Devil said nada about what we're supposed to do, it was just an extraction. But we can't keep them here forever, they have lives. Pretty exposed lives, at that."

"I don't know." Oliver admitted, running a hand over his head, and looking to John. "Any ideas?"

"My sister has several safe houses across the country." Nyssa volunteered, stepping forwards. "Hundreds of them."

"I could write an algorithm." Felicity volunteered, raising her hand slightly. "Cross checking where we know she's been at different times, her identities, and any other information we have with the locations. Narrow it down a bit."

"That sounds like an excellent idea." Lyla agreed, eyes tracking her twins, who were halfway up the wall now. Grant was still climbing, ignoring the netting in favour of going higher. "How long would that take?"

"A day. Maybe two, if nothing else comes up."

"We also need to look into HIVE." Joe said, sitting down on one of the benches, and cracking his neck. "Doesn't Darhk have connections to Ra's Al Ghul?"

Everyone who knew who Ra's Al Ghul was turned to Nyssa and Sara, who were sitting together on one of the other benches. Sara shook her head. "I never heard the name while I was with the League. Nyssa?"

The assassin nodded. "Damian was an associate of my father, before he became Ra's Al Ghul. They were both contenders for the name, and Damian vanished around that point in time. I'm afraid I know nothing other than that."

"Who's Ra's Al Ghul?" Laurel asked, and everyone stared at her for a minute. "What?"

Athena called down. "The immortal jerkface!"

There were a few chuckles, and a few sighs of exasperation. But nobody elaborated on the girl's explanation. Instead, Mei made a suggestion. "Perhaps we should eat, and talk there. This room is not made for long explanations."

The others seemed to agree, and started to head down the hallway. Except for Felicity and Oliver, who looked up at where the kids were wrestling. Grant was at the top of the wall, clinging to it with one hand and foot, the other side hanging in empty air.

"Head's up!" he shouted, and jumped.

Athena yelped as his weight caused both her and Akio to go flying up in the air. Her arms and legs scrambled in the air to balance herself and she landed on the net below. They were staggered, the highest one the smallest, the rest slowly moving further from the wall, like stairs. Akio landed after her, and she bounced again, hitting the middle net.

Grant flipped from the top layer, and catapulted Akio down two levels, sending himself down to Athena's. And so they went, all the way down to the bottom layer, where the twins were.

"Time for dinner!" he said brightly, grabbing Sara, who wiggled, trying to free herself. She was laughing, and Grant started to laugh as well, as Junior attacked him from behind. Athena joined in, jumping onto the pile. Akio charged in a moment later, fighting with Grant.

"C'mon guys!" Oliver called, sounding amused as Thea and Moira watched. "Come down!"

After a few minutes, Grant freed himself, and held Junior with one arm, hanging from the nets edge with the other. "Ready?"

"He's not going to drop him, right?" Thea asked Felicity, as Oliver moved forwards, arms outstretched.

"Eh." Felicity shrugged. "Least they're not practicing decapitation techniques this time."

"What?"

Grant dropped Junior, who was caught by Oliver. Oliver set the boy down swiftly and he rolled away, in a neat shoulder roll. Far too tidy four a four-year-old.

Athena lugged Sara over next, holding her under the armpits. The blond counted down, starting to build up momentum with the younger girl. "Three! Two! One!"

Sara went flying, barely caught by Oliver, and she rolled away from him too, running after her brother, almost slamming into Felicity's legs. The girl sidestepped at the last moment, giggling. Felicity turned her head to watch her run out of the gym, past the workout machines, and down the hall. Thea's eyes were glued to Athena, who was hanging from the netting edge with both hands.

"Can I flip?" she called.

"Do you think you can make it?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah."

"Then go ahead."

With a grunt, Athena kicked her legs, as if she was on a swing. Building up speed, she released the netting at the top of her backwards arc, sending herself flying. She managed to execute a single twisting flip, so she was facing the opposite direction she'd started. She rolled with her landing, but lost control at the last second, spilling out. She gripped the thin blue mats of the sparing rectangle, feet skidding out behind her, hip scraping the ground. "Ow."

"You okay?" Grant shouted as she pushed herself to her feet, brushing herself off.

"Fine!" she called back. "Hurry up, I want food!"

Grant faced away from the netting, and swung his legs like Athena had, sending himself flying. Unlike Athena, he didn't go for height, instead releasing halfway through his forwards swing. He went soaring forwards, and hit feet-first, rolling over his shoulder, which seemed to be a common theme. Akio jumped after them, although he just dropped and rolled, before charging at Grant, with his knife.

Grant blocked the first strike, his hand hitting Akio's wrist. He wrapped his fingers around the younger boy's wrist, and spun, throwing Akio over his shoulder. Akio held onto Grant's long sleeved shirt, pulling the elder with him, and rolling onto him, pinning him.

Before he could do anything, Athena charged at them, and knocked Akio off. "Food!"

Oliver suddenly appeared beside them, pushing them apart. All three kids made disappointed noises, and Felicity laughed, before she turned away, heading for the apartments. Moira swiftly followed, and Grant shouted something at the other kids, charging down the hallway. Akio yelled furiously, and charged after him, notably knife-less.

Athena clambered onto Oliver's back, knee's clinging to his sides, leaving her hands free. She somehow navigated around the quiver Oliver still had on, looking comfortable as he walked towards the apartments. Thea stepped up beside him, eyeing the girl.

"Who are you?" Athena asked, looking down at the brunette. "Are you related to me?"

"Thea Queen." Thea found herself saying. The girl nodded.

"My aunt then."

It wasn't hard to piece it together, even if Felicity had shied away from it somewhat. Oliver had married the blond, and Athena was their daughter. It made sense, since there was really no other option in the situation.

It was still a shock, although Thea thought she handled it well, only nodding. "Cool."

Athena somehow flipped over her father's shoulder, lowering her legs in front of him and landing on the ground, sprinting down the halway, and swinging off the side of a doorframe, into one of the rooms.

"She's ADHD." Oliver admitted. "Felicity's father was as well, although she's never gotten the diagnosis."

"Oh." Thea said, although she wasn't sure why she was being told. Maybe because he felt like he needed to justify his daughters actions? That seemed silly. The girl was ADHD sure, but it wasn't like that meant she was insane or something.

Entering the apartment was like stepping into a different world. It didn't seem to be someone's living quarters, more of a communal space. There was an island with a few stools by the kitchen area, and a table beside it. Up a pair of stairs, there was a living room-esque space, with a long grey L shaped couch shoved up in the far left corner, a wooden coffee table, and a smaller couch. A half-dozen bean bags were scattered around the higher level, and Grant was playing keep-away with Akio, who was trying to get his knife back, while Roy was flicking through a DVD album.

Most of the adults were gathered in the main room, where Joe and Tatsu were working in the kitchen, Sin chatting with Rose and Mei, who were on another set of couches near the door. Moira had perched herself on one of the stools beside Quintin, who was in a kind of daze, staring at his daughter.

Sara was flirting with Nyssa, stealing bits of vegetables that the assassin was chopping up, and laughing. Maseo was engaged in a conversation at the table with Slade and Felicity, the latter of whom was typing rapidly on a computer, and not really adding much to the conversation.

There was a rug in each living room space, and weapons decorated the walls. A collection of sleek knives were arranged above the stove, some of them longer then Thea's forearm, the smallest shorter than her pinky. A long ranged sniper rifle-like thing was displayed above one of the couches, and a bookshelf had copies of books, from Percy Jackson, to 101 AWESOME MINECRAFT BUILDS all the way to classic's like the Odyssey. A grenade sat at one end of the shelf, along with a bottle of liquid with a wick in it.

"Does anyone know anything about the Spanish Cartell?" Rose demanded. Thea turned her attention to the girl as Oliver took off his gear. "Anything?"

"You don't?" Joe asked. Rose gave him the finger, and he slashed at it with a butter knife, missing when she pulled away. "Felicity has a file on them. It's under funambulism."

"The fucks funambulism?"

"The art of tight-rope walking." Sin said, from where she sat at the end of the island.

"How do you know that?"

"I looked it up."

This resulted in Rose throwing a knife at Sin, who leaned casually out of the way, and the blade sunk into a nearby dartboard, dead center.

"No throwing weapons during dinner!" Tatsu scolded, and Rose stood up to get the blade, but the older woman got there first, shaking the weapon in the taller girl's face. "No weapons!"

"Right." Rose said, leaning her head out of the way, and taking note of the antics in the TV room. "Roy, pick a bloody film already."

"How to Train Your Dragon?"

"Whatever, I don't care."

Thea found herself on the couch by Athena, who'd discarded her quiver and bow on the half-wall that ringed the TV living room, small trinkets hanging along it as well. Roy put the film in, and tossed the remote to Grant.

"Don't break it." he ordered, before going to help the others with dinner.

Grant muttered something, and turned the volume up, as someone in the kitchen started to play some random song on the beat-up radio above the sink. Thea relaxed, feeling safe for the first time since she was taken to the holding cell at SCPD. It felt... kind of like a home.

A crazy home, sure, but a home none the less.

* * *

Dinner was a rather odd affair. Tommy had somehow managed to connect with Maseo, who seems to more or less be just humouring him, while Mei was actually speaking to Laurel about their respective jobs. Moira and Slade were talking about god knows what, and Thea found herself on Felicity's left, with Grant beside her, and Akio, Athena, Mini Sara and Junior in a line down the table, and coming around the other side.

The kids were debating something that Thea actually knew about, although she didn't know it all that well. FanFiction.

Apparently, they had enough of an internet connection to be able to frequent the websites associated with such things, and were co-authoring a story about the Avengers. From what Thea could hear, they were debating every single letter of it, which was impressive. Most kids who actually were on those sites just wrote a bunch of crap and looked for praise.

"No, she doesn't." Athena said, sounding irritated. "She lost it when she fell into the Pit, remember? It's mentioned."

"'Thea's right." Akio agreed between bites of mashed potatoes. "I remember that."

"I'm looking that up tonight." Grant muttered under his breath, yielding to their superior knowledge, and Thea made eye contact with Rose, who rolled her eyes before mothing a message that took a minute to decode.

_Ignore them._

Thea decided to do just that, tuning into the main conversation instead, which was being held by the Lifeline members, discussing some kind of project they were working on.

"It's possible that the incident was planned." Oliver said, looking to Slade. "Nobody would really look twice, no? Bridges in America aren't exactly up to date things."

"Possibly." Slade agreed, writing something down in some kind of code on a yellow legal pad. "We'll have to consider anyone who might have anything to gain from it."

"That's a long list." Sin commented, swatting Roy's elbow. "Move, you're in my space."

He muttered something at her, and she wrinkled her nose at him. "Idiot."

"Anyone heard from Gotham lately?" Roy asked, between french fries. "Hood's ghosting me again."

"Oracle said they're dealing with some crisis. Again." Felicity offered.

"Yay." Sin deadpanned.

"They need help?"

"Nah, she said they're fine. Just busy. Said we should come for Thanksgiving though!"

"We will go." Tatsu said, and nobody argued. There were nods of agreement, a couple words of excitement, but nothing more. The conversation continued on. Thea remained silent, just listening to them speak.

She also watched how they all interacted. Mini Sara stole a chicken finger from her brothers plate, which made the two of them fight after she shoved it in her mouth whole. Junior let out a wail that nobody placated, and smacked his fists into his sisters arm. She started to punch him as well, and it only stopped after Grant leaned across the table and drove a steak knife into the wood between their plates, as if it was normal.

"Did you know," Athena started, sounding proud. "That butter knives were invented in the Middle Ages to try and lower the chances of assassination attempts during dinner?"

"That's stupid." Grant said. "If you want to kill someone, there's tons of ways, not just stabbing them."

Thea glanced at Quintin, who if possible, looked green as the Hulk at the casual conversation happening a few seats away from him. But the Lifeline members didn't seem to really notice. Tatsu only scolded the kids after Akio, Grant and Athena started to very precisely lay out a plan to assassinate the Queen of England, to which she reminded him of the location of certain guards and that that passageway they'd been planning to use wasn't actually in use anymore, it had collapsed. They just thanked her and rehashed their plan.

"They won't actually try to kill her, right?" Thea said quietly to Felicity. The blond swallowed her rice, and shrugged, not seeming all that bothered by the question.

"It's good for them to run mental simulations." she explained. "Helps with brain power, visualization, all that. And they're just using the name of the Monarch, not the Monarch themself. This would be if say, someone managed to take her hostage and such. An extraction. We correct them if there's something obviously wrong, but they fix almost all of it by themselves."

Akio and Athena started arguing about what nerves to hit, and Thea decided to ignore the kids for the rest of the meal.

* * *

Athena Smoak-Queen mostly tried to ignore the guests. They wouldn't be around long anyways, would they?

The last, and only time they'd gotten guests that wasn't an ARGUS person had been two years ago, when Red Robin and Spoiler had come around to speak with the adults. They knew the Clan from a few missions in Gotham, and they were the only people that Athena knew properly, outside of the base.

Gotham was the only place where they got to do actual things. They'd spent Christmas there last year, with the Clan, and it had been fun. She'd gotten to go on patrol as a Robin, along with Grant and Akio. Apparently, nobody really kept track of the Robins anymore, so that had been the best costume choice.

They emailed with the Bats a lot. It wasn't official stuff, like Uncle Roy had been talking about; it was day-to-day stuff. Sometimes the emails were really long because they didn't have time to write them for a while, and sometimes they were just a few sentences.

She wanted to go to Gotham again. Gotham was way better than another group of people who she didn't know and who thought she was crazy because she could fight without a weapon and bring down a grown-man and could hack into a lot of top-secret stuff.

She wanted them to leave already. They were fine without the new people. The police officer looked like he wanted to arrest Dad, and Grandmother looked like she didn't approve of any of it. Along with the lawyer and her boyfriend. Thea was the only one who Athena actually liked in some way; the girl seemed to be more or less accepting, and while she looked surprised at what they could do, she seemed impressed by it more than anything.

That was good.

"Can we call Gotham?" she asked, leaning over the table so she could see anyone. "I want to talk to Claire."

"Sure." Dad answered, after the adults looked at each other. "Clean up first, 'kay?"

" _Ja Papa_." she replied, the German easily sliding off her tongue. She was multilingual, like most people, with Japanese, English, and German, the latter her current elective.

She scraped off what little remained of her meal into the small green compost bin under the sink, and put her dishes in the dishwasher. Akio, his mouth full of food, cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk, was quick to follow.

The two of them wandered down to the family apartments, and into their respective rooms. Athena's was pretty basic. A fake window on one wall lit up the wall, mimicking how light would filter through on the surface, a single potted plant on the sill. There was a vent cover under her desk, where her laptop sat. Her bed was pressed against one wall, up in the corner, and she had a simple dresser. A short sword leaned against the wall, her combat gear piled by it, and a few pictures decorated shelves.

She unplugged her laptop, and rummaged around for a pair of headphones, and headed back. They found Grant on the couch with the twins, the third How to Train Your Dragon film playing. He didn't seem to be watching, although the twins were. They kept pausing it, and acting out scenes, trying to stand on each others back, like they were surfing. Someone had moved the table away, into a corner, which was a smart move.

The twins had better balance then most four-year-olds, but they were still four.

It took a few minutes for Athena to log onto a private chat room, and send a message.

Athena/Artemis: Hi

While she waited, she connected her headphones, knowing that Claire would probably talk, while she typed. It was something they did, for no real reason then they could.

It only took a couple minutes for Claire to log on, and send her own message.

Claire/Gotham Girl: Sup

Claire/Gotham Girl wants to use audio message. Accept / Deny

Athena clicked on accept, and Claire's voice flooded through her years. "Hey Athena! What's up?"

She typed out a message explaining the day's events. Claire was silent during the waiting period, and a small window popped up the top corner of the screen. It showed a profile picture of a laughing Claire Clover and Athena, who was dressed in her combat uniform, Claire in her own uniform.

"Damn. They annoying?"

Athena/Artemis: they're not the most accepting

"What do they do againn? Names, jobs, spill it all!"

Athena/Artemis: what are you doing?

"Procrastinating an essay I need to write. It's like, one in the morning here, I just got off patrol."

Holding back a giggle, Arthena typed out a brief description of the guests' jobs.

"Lawyer, cop, and three rich people? Seriously? Wait, are they Queens?"

Athena looked up as Roy sat down, and she sighed, accepting that it would probably be easier just to go back to her room, and video chat.

"Yo, Arty? You there?"

She sent a random letter, already standing up, and heading out. Rose shouted something at her, and she shrugged in return, continuing on.

She put her laptop down, wondering why she'd even gone back to the main room, where Akio was playing some video game on his laptop, and sent a video chat request, shutting her door while she waited for it to load.

"Cool." Claire said, and the entire screen was filled with a live stream video feed from Gotham. "How are you doing with them?"

"Not well." Athena replied, sitting down at her desk, while Claire seemed to search for earbuds or headphones of her own. "Thea seems to be the only one who's in any way accepting; the cop looks like he wants to arrest all of us."

"There are only two cops I know of who are good, and one of them's my brother. The other is my pseudo-sister's dad."

"I'm not related to this cop. But my grandmother and aunt are here, along with Thomas Merlyn. The cop's Quintin Lance and his daughter is Laurel."

"That lawyer that tried to arrest you guys during the Undertaking?"

"The very same."

"Want to come over soon?" Claire asked, sitting down, and apparently plugging a pair of white earbuds into her computer. "I mean, Carrie graduated from Robin to Catgirl a couple weeks ago, the city's still reeling from that."

Athena smiled. Carrie was great. As Catgirl, she'd be unstoppable, especially if she was being trained by Selina.

"Yeah, I'd love to. Doubt I'll be able to though. I think Mom wants me to 'bond' with Dad's family."

Claire snorted. "Our families are so fucked up man, bonding is ripping each others throats out, not drinking tea and telling stories."

"I'll talk to dad about it. Now, tell me about your patrol, I want to know everything."

* * *

"Are you seriously doing Just Dance?" Thea asked as she shuffled into the apartment she'd come to learn belonged to her older brother. It was simple. A TV on the wall, two couches facing each other, a small four person table and kitchen, a desk pushed against one wall. The walls were grey, with white cursive on one of them, depicting a map of the world.

Athena was indeed doing Just Dance. The music of Cheap Thrills filled the air, and she more or less ignored Thea in favor of hitting her marks correctly. Which left Felicity to answer.

"Well, we wanted to get that Ring Fit Adventure thing, from Nintendo? But they were all sold out last time we got up, and nobody's called us saying they have one, so the kids are stuck with Just Dance for now. Although they're not complaining, we've got all the versions of it, and—"

"Felicity." Oliver called from where he was in the kitchen area, stirring some kind of batter in a green plastic bowl. "Relax. Thea understands."

Felicity let out a short sigh, seeming to obey the order to relax, sinking back into the couch, and patting the space beside her. Thea padded over, her sneakers squeaking on the floor slightly, despite how quietly she tried to step; it'd been a nervous habit she'd picked up as a child, and after the Gambit, she'd ended up sneaking around the house, trying to avoid everyone. At first, people had heard her all the time, but slowly, she'd gotten better.

That or they ignored her now.

She was still dressed in the clothes from the day before, having not gotten any changes from anybody. Felicity took stock of this, and reached for the coffee table, where a tablet sat. She powered it on, and her fingers flew across the screen.

"We'll order some clothes for you." she said. "Probably shouldn't run around in what you'd normally wear, because people follow profiles, and not say, facial structure. So that would be something like long hair worn loose, kind of heavy but not heavy makeup and whatever you normally wear. So, we'll get some stuff that you wouldn't usually be seen in, put your hair up, and less makeup, okay?"

"What?"

Felicity looked up at her from behind her glasses. "Sorry. We do a lot of witness protection here, and we change a lot about a person's style. It's a habit."

"Um... okay." Thea forced a smile when she saw the catalog appear on-screen. "I like shopping anyways. Online shopping."

"Awesome!" Felicity paused. "Um... what size are you?"

* * *

"I'm going to find the others." Oliver said quietly, hand resting on Felicity's shoulder briefly. "Don't touch the stove."

"I know Oliver." Felicity muttered, hyper-focused on the tablet she was working away on. "Thea, do you like maroon?"

"Um... yes?"

"Alright."

"Hey." Oliver tapped his sister on the shoulder. "Felicity's apparently got great style. C'mon, let's go wake the others up."

Eager to have something new to do, Thea jumped to her feet, as Athena finished the latest dance. It was a Justin Biever song. As the girl stared at the TV screen intently, watching her point meter rise, she let out a huff, and sped through the process, taking her joy-con off her wrist. "Dang it."

"What's wrong?" Oliver asked, turning to face his daughter as she marched towards him.

"I hate Justin Biever." Athena said simply, pulling a bow and quiver out from one of the couches. One of the ones small enough to fit her. "But if I want to complete the game, I have to get silver stars on every dance, so I might as well do the bad ones first."

"Don't you like Cheap Thrills though? You do that one a lot."

"Yes, because it's easy, since I've done it so much." Athena huffed, clipping the quiver on as Oliver opened the door to the main hall. "Whatever. Let's go, please and thank you, good-bye."

With that, she stormed out of the apartment, leaving her father and aunt behind. Oliver let out a small puff of breath that sounded a lot like laughter and gestured for Thea to exit, before going through himself.

The space wasn't quiet. Not as quiet as you'd think. There was a dog running through the hallway, a medium-sized creature, with curly fur. Black, with white paws, a white tipped tail, nose and chest. Athena yelped as the dog jumped through the air, and landed on her chest, knocking her flat to the floor. Thea tensed, expecting the creature to attack (granted, she had very little experience with dogs) but instead Athena started to giggle, the dog licking her neck and cheek.

"Casey!" Athena giggled, pushing the dogs face away from her own. "No! Bad—bad dog!"

"Wrong tone Genius!" Roy called, appearing from around the corner. He gave a sharp whistle, and the dog's head shot up. He kicked off Athena's stomach, causing her to exhale forcefully, and cover her torso with her arms, still grinning. The dog, Casey, bounded over to Roy, and wrapped around the back of his legs like some kind of cat, nose high, nuzzling at his fingertips. Roy chuckled, and gave the dog a scratch behind the ears. "You gotta be strict with her!"

He looked up, noticing Thea. "Oh, hey Princess."

"That's not my name."

"Don't bother." Athena giggled, sitting up and wiping slobber off her cheek with the back of her hand. "Roy gives everyone nicknames. Mum's Blondie."

"Great." Thea muttered, as the dog leaned against Roy, who walked towards their small group. "Why did nobody warn me about the dog?"

"She was downstairs last night." Roy explained. "More space to run around like the banshee she is. Ain't that right girl?"

He looked down at the dog, and rubbed her throat. She seemed to like it, lifting her nose so he could do it better.

"Anyways," Roy continued, still giving the dog attention. "Casey, this is Thea Queen. Thea, this is Casey, our dog. We also have a pet canary and some horses; but they're upstairs in one of the barns, maybe you can go riding at some point."

"I ride." Athena announced proudly, kneeling down on one knee. _"Casey! Was!"_

Casey perked up at the words, and left Roy, crashing into Athena's arms. The girl showered her with strange words that Thea didn't know the meaning of. " _Wer ist ein gutes Mädchen? Bist du ein gutes Mädchen? Oh ja, du bist, du kleines Tier!"_

"You're getting good at that." Roy complemented, as Athena stood up, snapping her fingers at her side.

"Ferse." she said sharply, and Casey stood up, almost at attention. Thea knew enough about dogs to guess the command. Heel. "I've been doing German for years, _Viele Waffen_. 'Course I'm good at it! I'm working on Russian now. Um... Как мой акцент?"

"Not that great." Oliver said, as he started to walk beside the blond, down the hall, Roy following. Not to be left out, Thea caught up quickly, keeping pace. "But better then before. And you've only been at it for a week."

 _"Sheisse."_ Athena muttered, then looked down at Casey. _"Folgen!"_

She broke into a run, and the dog sprinted after her, keeping pace even when the kid sped up as fast as Thea thought she could go; which turned out not to be her limit, as she broke past it, into another gear. Oliver hummed at the sight of the pair whipping around a doorframe, nearly smashing into each other. They only didn't because Athena jumped, grabbing the top of the door frame ledge and swinging, while Casey nearly went snout first into the wall.

Thea followed the two guys into the apartment, where two women were. One, Sara, was crouched by Casey, petting her, while the other, Nyssa, was fighting with Athena, hand to hand.

"Watch your footwork." she ordered sharply, but not unkindly. "Widen your stance, or—"

She gripped Athena's shirt collar in her fist and swept her legs out from under her, holding the girl up enough to slow her fall. But Athena wasn't stopped. Instead of submitting, she reached up and grabbed Nyssa's arm, just below the elbow, in both hands. And she pulled, using her weight to yank the assassin down, and roll, partially throwing her to the floor.

The entire apartment was sparse. There was one counter against the wall for cooking and eating, and a few weapons here and there, a small yellow bird perched on the hilt of one of them. A large mat that Thea associated with Japanese culture were laid out in what she'd assume was the living room, where Athena and Nyssa were fighting.

Nyssa was dressed... like a normal person. At least, in Thea's opinion. She had a black bra on, underneath a loose sleeveless white shirt and black leggings that stopped at her calves. Both her hands were wrapped in white fabric like a boxer, making it most of the way to her elbows, and she wore simple running shoes.

If Thea had seen her on the street, she'd assume she worked in some kind of fighting ring, like WWE or UFC or something underground. Or that she was going to a boxing lesson.

Sara, was much the same. Although she was not going to a boxing lesson, wearing black leggings, and a long sleeved grey sweatshirt, hair back in very small and tight and detailed braids along one side of her scalp, before all her hair gathered into a ponytail with several braids throughout it.

"Hey Ollie. Roy." Sara said cheerfully, between her bouts of alternate languages to the dog. _"Shuí shì hǎo gǒu? Nǐ shì, nǐ kě ài de xiǎo gǒu! Duō me hǎo de nǚ hái a!_ How are you doing?"

"Awesome." Roy replied, as Athena and Nyssa started to wrestle, the younger, surprisingly being able to hold her own. _"¿Hola? ¿Amarillo?"_

A small yellow dart—the bird Thea had noticed earlier—rocketed towards him. Apparently, everyone spoke to animals in languages that were very clearly not English. The bird landed on his shoulder, and hopped over to his neck, claws pinching the edge fabric of his hoodie's hood, to pick up the end of the drawstring that could pull his hood shut. He lifted it in the air, and flapped his wings a few times, bobbing his head.

 _"¡Pequeño Amarillo!"_ Roy laughed, lifting a hand for the bird to climb up on. _"¿Buen día hasta ahora?"_

"Okay, do you guys ever talk to animals in English?" Thea finally asked, genuinely curious. "And how many languages do you speak?"

Nyssa, having pinned Athena, who was still struggling, looked up. "Animals typically do not react to actual words; they react to your tone. In terms of commands, such as sit, stay, come, or heel, they will associate syllables with the action. We trained all the animals here to respond to certain people when they speak certain languages. Athena, for example. Casey will only respond to her if she speaks in German, for it is a different accent and inflection."

"And why would you do that?"

"It's an extra precaution. For if one of us were to be taken hostage and ordered to order the animals to stand down, we could simply give our command in the language they are trained to respond to, and have them perform a completely different action. For example, _Casey! Viens ici!_ "

The dog perked up, and charged towards Nyssa, who brought one hand up, palm flat, in a clear order to halt. _"Arrêter!"_

The dog froze, one paw in the air, completely tensed. Nyssa made a circling motion with her free hand, pointing down. _"Tourner vite! Arrêter! S'asseoir! Debout! En bas! S'asseoir! En bas! S'asseoir! Parler!"_

In time with her commands, Casey turned in a tight circle, froze again, facing Nyssa, sat down, stood up, laid down, sat up, laid down again, before she sat up, and barked twice.

 _"Bon chien."_ Nyssa praised, letting Athena up. The girl huffed angrily, rolling onto her stomach and glared at Casey, whose tail was wagging across the floor. _"Se détendre."_

"But if I were to say; Casey, up!" Nyssa waited, but Casey ignored her words, tongue lolling out. "She doesn't react, because we have trained her not to."

"That seems... really complicated."

"Akio gets bored." Athena summed up for her. "And so do I. It was our idea. Can we have breakfast now?"

"Yeah." Oliver agreed, as Athena summoned the bird with the same command she'd used to summon Casey in the hallway earlier. "Although you haven't told them about how Rose calls them."

"Oh!" Athena beamed, giving the canary a small rub with one of her knuckles. "Right! So Rose does all her stuff in Maori, because as she puts it; I'm fucking Australian and I don't give a shit but someone taught me this bitch."

Sara failed at hiding her snort of amusement, giving Casey another command in whatever her language of choice was. The dog stood up, and started wandering around the room, sniffing at Thea's shoes.

"And her commands are all crazy video game stuff. Like for come, she says—" Athena cleared her throat, lifting her hand to her opposite shoulder so the canary could step off. The bird did so easily, and started to nibble at the strap keeping her quiver on. "— _Mate!_ or something, I can't say it right, but it means summon. And for lay down she says _Te!_ which basically just means die."

Thea choked on the air. "What? She tells the animal to die?"

Athena tilted her head towards the bird, and it took a lock of her hair in its beak, somehow tangling it's claws up in it too. "Well. I don't think Casey or Juane understand what she means; they just know to lay down. Well Juane's command for that is actually death, and she plays dead. Do we have a command for play dead? Um... I don't think I do. Maybe I should change that."

Sara laughed, standing up and taking Athena by the shoulders as she straightened. The canary clung to her hair, but she either didn't notice or didn't care. "How about you go wake up Akio? Roy can go with, you can get Akio, the twins, and Sin, how about that? And I'll take Juane, alright?"

"M'kay."

Athena clicked her tongue like she was riding a horse, and tapped Sara's shoulder twice with her middle and pointer finger, held together. _"Juane! Hier!"_

The bird seemed to obey whatever command that was, and fluttered to land on Sara's shoulder. With that, Athena darted out of the apartment, and whipping around the doorframe, leaving Thea with the feeling that a tornado had just passed her by.

"C'mon." Oliver said. "Let's wake the others up."

* * *

It was probably a weird way to wake up, honestly, Thea would later reflect. Considering the way Sara woke up Rose Wilson was by slashing at her throat with a sword, which the woman somehow dodged. And how Nyssa took pride in directing Casey to jump on Mei and lay down nose-to-nose with her until the doctor got up.

Although Slade did nearly take Oliver's head off.

But it was a fun morning, especially once they met up with Grant, Akio, and Athena in front of the guest apartment.

Grant was in a pair of sweatpants and a white tank top, wearing fingerless gloves and looking like he wanted to murder anyone and everyone, while Akio had a brown jacket and jeans on instead. The twins simply wore

 _"Was!"_ Athena quietly ordered Casey, who'd been following the group of people waking other people up. She gripped the dogs collar in her fist, and grinned at Thea as Akio held the door handle. Oliver and Sara and Nyssa and everyone had vanished, leaving Thea with the gaggle of children. Athena turned back to the boys, and gave a single nod. Akio flung the door open, and Athena released Casey with a single command. _"Erschrecken! Dort!_ "

Thea had slept on the apartment floor, in a pile of blankets. Officer Lance had taken the single couch, Tommy and Laurel one of the bedrooms, Moira the spare room. Casey, the moment the door opened, charged forwards. Since Grant flicked on the lights, they could all see the absolute destruction she and Juane caused, the bird having been on Thea's shoulder for the past quarter hour or so, before Athena had commanded both creatures to attack. The command hadn't been simply verbal, as Athena had swept two fingers forwards, her pointer and middle finger, like Iron Man 3 or something, pointing inside.

There was a scream from the bedroom, where the canary had vanished into, followed by the twins, and Officer Lance let out one of his own when he was faced with Casey, who'd completely transformed from the lovable energetic puppy-like dog to an absolute murderer, crouched on Lance's chest, teeth bared and growling.

"What the hell?" Tommy demanded, stumbling out of the room, followed by Laurel, who was covering her head as Juane dive bombed her. The twins were laughing, along with the other kids, and Thea let out her startled laugh at their expressions.

"Get this—" Lance cursed, "—off of me!"

"What?" Thea gasped out. "Are you scared of? Casey? She's an absolute sweetheart. Isn't she, Athena?"

"Yep!" the blond agreed, barely able to get the words out. "The best!"

"What's going on?" Moira asked, coming out of the spare room. "Dear heavens, Thea!"

"I didn't do it." Thea defended, and saw Juane land on the back of Laurel's shoulders, and peck at her exposed skin. The lawyer let out a yelp, and spun, swatting at the air. Juane flew away, avoiding the woman's random attacks, and zipped past Tommy. Thea grinned. _"Juane! Tulevat!"_

"Finnish." Grant said appreciatively. "Good choice."

Juane alighted on Thea's shoulder, and she laughed as the bird's soft head nuzzled her neck. She gave the bird a few pets, then let her step up onto her wrist. "There was a student I was friends with. She was from Finland, so I picked a few things up."

"Get this thing off of me!" Lance demanded, and Laurel finally free of Juane, noticed her father's plight.

"Daddy!"

"She seriously calls him daddy?" Grant said in a very loud stage whisper.

"So does _Tayour_." Mini Sara pointed out, sitting down for no real reason. Then, she began to high-five the floor, singing in some other language. Because of course the four-year-old kids would know another language too.

_Brilha, brilha lá no céu_

_A estrelinha que nasceu_

_E logo outra surge ao lado_

_E o céu fica iluminado_

_Brilha, brilha lá no céu_

_A estrelinha que nasceu_

_"Nasceu."_ Grant corrected her. "Not _nasceo_. Close though. Your Portuguese is getting better."

Mini Sara pouted, then started again, or tried to. Since her brother fell on her from behind, sending both of them to the floor. She then started to berate him in whatever language it was, slamming her little fists on his stomach.

Meanwhile, Laurel had been starting to approach her father and Casey, but the moment she got just a bit too close, Casey whipped her head around, and snarled at her. Laurel froze, and Athena giggled. "What? Scared of Casey? _Casey! Was! Wohl._ "

The dog changed instantly, jumping off Lance—literally, she kicked him in the gut—and over the place where Thea had slept, before trotting over and sitting beside the blond. Akio muttered something else, making a small sign with his hand, and Casey then moved to press against his legs, like she had with Roy.

Thea grinned, and crouched down, holding out a hand for the dog. "Casey? Um... _Tulevat_?"

The dog turned and looked at her, then up at Akio, who gave another command. Thea tried her command again, more confident in the pronunciation this time. _"Tulevat."_

Casey slowly stood, and walked over, sniffing at her hand. Thea gave her a scratch behind the ears, and grinned at the others. "She's awesome, see?"

"Yo, losers!" someone called from the hallway. "Time for breakfast!"

"Coming!" Athena called back. "Pancakes?"

"It's your dad, not mine!"

"Pancakes." Athena decided, then bolted out of the room, pursued by Casey, Grant, Akio, and the twins. Thea let out a huff, and started after them. She was sure the others could find their way.

* * *

"Punch, punch, kick." Sin instructed, and Thea obeyed. She punched the younger woman's palm twice, once with each hand, and twisted her hips, smacking her bare foot against Sin's other palm. "Again. Punch, punch, kick. Again. Again. Again."

It was hard not to get distracted in the gym. The kids were having an archer contest, which Athena was kicking their butts at, although John Junior seemed to have potential. And Rose and Joe were trying to take each others heads off with swords, while Slade and Mei were working on guns.

The other guests had declined the opportunity to train, instead spending time with Felicity, Lyla, John, and Oliver, all of whom were working on... something. Although Sara and Nyssa were conveniently missing.

"Hands hurt yet?"

"No." Thea grunted, trying to go faster. Punch, punch, kick. "How long?"

"Do you do this for?"

"Yeah."

"While longer. Maybe do some actual sparring. Back kick." Thea whipped around, and kicked out, missing Sin's hand with her heel. "Good try. Side kick. Punch. Front kick. Punch. Double punch. Right, left, right, right, left, right."

Thea grunted again with effort, slamming her feet and fists into Sin's hands, but the girl didn't seem to even notice it, despite how red Thea's feet and hands were. "Alright. Done. Find some water, one of those bottles should be clean. Fountains over there."

And with that, Sin turned around to face Roy, who'd appeared out of nowhere, leaving Thea to manage on her own. She let out a sigh, and looked down at herself. She'd borrowed some of Cindy's own clothes for the workout. Shorts and a loose white t-shirt that was soaked with sweat. She'd been ordered to take her shoes off, which was something she now regretted following through on, since her feet ached and stung with the pain of impact.

Slowly, she slid under the ropes of the boxing ring that was almost tucked into a corner of the gym, and headed for where Sin had gestured at. Mei had also taken a break, sitting on a bench in a dark purple shirt and leggings, mixing some kind of powder into her bottle, turning the water pink.

"Hello." the woman greeted, dipping her head slightly as Thea took a seat. "Would you like some water?"

"Uh... sure?"

Mei nodded solemnly, and stood, after screwing on the cap of the first bottle. She retrieved another bottle, and took a plastic scoop from inside a small, glass jar filled three quarters of the way up with dark red powder. Mei hummed as she filled the cup, and added it to the water, before swirling the bottle itself around to mix the two substances together.

"You are Thea Queen." she said thoughtfully as she did it, and Thea blinked.

"Yeah. I guess."

"Your feet hurt?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Mei nodded, still mixing. "I trained in taekwondo as a child. My sister was always more into the fighting then I was. Our father wanted a son, you see. And he got one."

"Your sister?"

"Twins." Mei said, but didn't elaborate. Thea, knowing enough from playing hostess with her mother, didn't press. Mei continued. "I disliked the activity, the only part I enjoyed being our patterns. The kicking hurt my feet when I started, but by the end, it was nothing."

She hummed to herself, and Thea was reminded of Yoda. Just the motions and the small noises Mei made to herself. The quiet grunts and hums of thoughtfulness. The general idea. It was just... Yoda-like.

"It strengthens your feet. Be glad you are not a monk of kung fu, for they do such things to every aspect of their body, such as their necks—" Mei brushed her fingers across her throat, "—the arms, the stomach. Every aspect. And they train their minds."

She pressed three fingers to Thea's scalp. Thea froze, and then her hand darted up, and grabbed Mei's wrist, pulling her hand away. "Please don't."

"Of course."

**Author's Note:**

> So, I expanded this story. Originally, this was going to be like, a full-blown 50k+ story, but then I realised... yeah, not happening. So, I expanded the original chapter for your pleasure, do not expect anything more, I'm sorry, but PM me if you'd like to continue this! Consider it a prompt, if you will.
> 
> For the record, Juane is a variation of the Spanish name/word Juan, and resembles the French word for yellow, jaune. And I am only fluent in French and English, and absolutely nothing else; I can sometimes understand Spanish and am trying to learn a bit of it from Duolingo (it's not going well). If you are a fluent speaker and flat out cringe at the wording/spelling/grammar, just review and tell me the correct way, please. Thanks!
> 
> Also, if a word is italicised, but not another language, that simply means the speaker is saying the word with a purposeful accent.
> 
> To the guest reviewing this; make an account please, so I can actually reply to you! That goes for any guests who want to review! Thank you! It's crazy frustrating not being able to reply to your comments!
> 
> And stay safe! Dunno 'bout you, but I do not fancy dying from THE FLU! If I die, it better be something really impressive, like saving hostages or something cool like that, where I'll get a medal or be in history books. The flu would just be like... really disappointing? At least to me.
> 
> I just realised that I basically threw these people into quarantine, when so many of us are actually in quarantine. I swear, I wrote this first chapter ages ago, I'm not a prophet!


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